Gillygate closure signs ‘ignored’ by motorists (From York Press)

"Dr Peckham said cyclists were also ignoring red lights and signs ordering them to dismount while in Gillygate."

Big surprise there then.

I was wheeling my bike along there a couple of weeks ago, when an ambulance on emergency call, used the "open" half of the road. Unfortunately its driver encontered a car being driven t'other way. When the drivers had managed to squeeze past each other, the car driver continued into Clarence Street. Cleary no intention of observing the closure.
I am afraid that the above article could well avertise the present sitation more widely, and tempt more road users to break the law. Temporary CCTV and ANPR facilites at each end, might be the only solution.

How about a couple of machine gun nests at either end?

Garrowby Turnoff wrote:
How about a couple of machine gun nests at either end?

Or just two copper with motorbikes?

If there is sufficient suspicion that vehicles are breaking the law then surely its just a paperwork exercise and a person looking through security tapes covering the road.
On this occasion I agree with Pedalling Paul but also put CPSO there from 8 till 8 to get people off their bikes. (lets be fair with this).

'A taxi driver forcing 2 cars onto the pavement'.Obviously rushing to the bank to deposit his £600 wad of cash !

pedalling paul wrote:
I was wheeling my bike along there a couple of weeks ago, when an ambulance on emergency call, used the "open" half of the road. Unfortunately its driver encontered a car being driven t'other way. When the drivers had managed to squeeze past each other, the car driver continued into Clarence Street. Cleary no intention of observing the closure. I am afraid that the above article could well avertise the present sitation more widely, and tempt more road users to break the law. Temporary CCTV and ANPR facilites at each end, might be the only solution.

You do get around on that dam bike.

C'mon where's the idiot rat-running red-neck comments along the lines of "I pay my road tax so I have the right to drive along any road I like"? I'm waiting.....

If there is access at both ends and there is no obstruction in between then the road is not closed then.
Why didn't they make it one way only if they didn't have to close the full width?

A lot of cyclists are a complete menace in York. There are of course those that obey the law but many just flout red lights on major junctions at both ends of Lord Mayor's Walk as well as both ends of Foss Islands Rd. I have seen quite a few near misses when cyclists go through red lights and then raised fists or single finger salutes from said cyclists as though they are the wronged party. Add to this those morons that cycle the wrong way up both Fossgate and Colliergate. I was driving down Fossgate and a cyclist went by and hit his fist against my car because I wouldn't give way to him.

The Police should have a blitz on people like this - they are breaking the law pure and simple...and ruining law abiding cyclists reputations.

Rodent wrote:
C'mon where's the idiot rat-running red-neck comments along the lines of "I pay my road tax so I have the right to drive along any road I like"? I'm waiting.....

Ditto but for once we seem to be having a reasonable set of comments. I can't believe I'm being optimistic that this will continue.

Obviously NY Police are doing there usual good job at enforcement.

"This evening a taxi driver did this and forced two cars coming the other way to drive on the pavement"

Could have been the one carrying my wife home from the station, although the driver did say that traffic has been moving easier around town since Gillygate has been cclosed. Perhaps it should stay that way. Or just have a congestion charge applied?

Rodent wrote:
C'mon where's the idiot rat-running red-neck comments along the lines of "I pay my road tax so I have the right to drive along any road I like"? I'm waiting.....

Well here you go Rodent,

I pay my road tax so I have the right to drive along any road I like!

Didn't want you to be disappointed :¬)

Teehee

I live on Gillygate and the new arrangement means I have a 5 to 25 minute additional journey of 2.6 miles... yet these creeps barrel along without a care in the world. I've photos - loads of them - of drivers arguing with each other and forcing each other on to the pavement, lorries with drivers getting out to move the signs to access Gillygate...

But there's no indication in this article that it's against the law.

pedalling paul wrote:
I was wheeling my bike along there a couple of weeks ago, when an ambulance on emergency call, used the "open" half of the road. Unfortunately its driver encontered a car being driven t'other way. When the drivers had managed to squeeze past each other, the car driver continued into Clarence Street. Cleary no intention of observing the closure.
I am afraid that the above article could well avertise the present sitation more widely, and tempt more road users to break the law. Temporary CCTV and ANPR facilites at each end, might be the only solution.

Alas, the way in which the closure has been handled makes it almost impossible to prosecute anyone for flouting the closure. The nature of the TRO means that almost anyone can claim a right of access down Gillygate and in order to prosecute someone you would have to get into a legal argument on what access for businesses constituted and so forth.

It has long been held that streets marked as "access only" are unenforceable in law which is why people drive down Piccadilly (an access only street) with impunity.

So if you want to blame anyone here really it is, unfortunately, CYC Highways again for creating a TRO and situation which is just ridiculous.

And Paul in this instance I think you are spot on now this situation has been highlighted, i think you'll see use sky rocket, with there being little anyone can do to stop it.

Mullarkian wrote:
If there is access at both ends and there is no obstruction in between then the road is not closed then. Why didn't they make it one way only if they didn't have to close the full width?

Duh-because there is a legal order closig the road to traffic....bet your one of the culprits who uses it as a cut through - but isnt able to read the signs either end saying "road closed" "access only"...

I was sat at traffic lights one night and counted 12 cars drive down there - and quite a few were taxis - clearly they view themselves as "emergency service" so have access.

Would love to be a traffic warden/pc and book every single inconsiderate selfish unknown that thinks they can do what they want...and rules dont apply to them.

Sadly though its too much like hard work to do it nowadays - so they dont care so no-one else does!!

You reap what u sow !!

If traffic can get through, why couldn't it have been kept open on a one-way basis, thus alleviating the tail-backs that have occurred elsewhere?

I see you are being afflicted by the "I'm so important that road closures, etc. do not apply to me" syndrome. By the way, it is contagious and only gets worse.

JOHNYBOY wrote:

Mullarkian wrote:
If there is access at both ends and there is no obstruction in between then the road is not closed then. Why didn't they make it one way only if they didn't have to close the full width?

Duh-because there is a legal order closig the road to traffic....bet your one of the culprits who uses it as a cut through - but isnt able to read the signs either end saying "road closed" "access only"...

I was sat at traffic lights one night and counted 12 cars drive down there - and quite a few were taxis - clearly they view themselves as "emergency service" so have access.

Would love to be a traffic warden/pc and book every single inconsiderate selfish unknown that thinks they can do what they want...and rules dont apply to them.

Sadly though its too much like hard work to do it nowadays - so they dont care so no-one else does!!

You reap what u sow !!

Read above about enforceability of access only. Good job your not a PC or Traffic Warden, because you don't know the law.

One thing Taxi drivers are usually pretty hot on is traffic law (even if it is so they know which rule they are breaking).

Thats why no one is enforcing it!

marvell wrote:
A lot of cyclists are a complete menace in York. There are of course those that obey the law but many just flout red lights on major junctions at both ends of Lord Mayor's Walk as well as both ends of Foss Islands Rd. I have seen quite a few near misses when cyclists go through red lights and then raised fists or single finger salutes from said cyclists as though they are the wronged party. Add to this those morons that cycle the wrong way up both Fossgate and Colliergate. I was driving down Fossgate and a cyclist went by and hit his fist against my car because I wouldn't give way to him. The Police should have a blitz on people like this - they are breaking the law pure and simple...and ruining law abiding cyclists reputations.

Funnily enough dont you think that comments like this ruin the reputation of law abiding cyclists?

Riding home last night in the traffic following the unfortunate accident on Clarence Street was a scary experience - car drivers weaving in/out of lanes without signalling, pedestrians crossing roads wearing ipods and not looking for moving traffic etc..

You also fail to mention the abuse ANY cyclist on York's roads has to put up with at the hands of the 4-wheeled "I own the road" majority?

Bit of balance please?

Stelvio wrote:

marvell wrote:
A lot of cyclists are a complete menace in York. There are of course those that obey the law but many just flout red lights on major junctions at both ends of Lord Mayor's Walk as well as both ends of Foss Islands Rd. I have seen quite a few near misses when cyclists go through red lights and then raised fists or single finger salutes from said cyclists as though they are the wronged party. Add to this those morons that cycle the wrong way up both Fossgate and Colliergate. I was driving down Fossgate and a cyclist went by and hit his fist against my car because I wouldn't give way to him. The Police should have a blitz on people like this - they are breaking the law pure and simple...and ruining law abiding cyclists reputations.

Funnily enough dont you think that comments like this ruin the reputation of law abiding cyclists?

Riding home last night in the traffic following the unfortunate accident on Clarence Street was a scary experience - car drivers weaving in/out of lanes without signalling, pedestrians crossing roads wearing ipods and not looking for moving traffic etc..

You also fail to mention the abuse ANY cyclist on York's roads has to put up with at the hands of the 4-wheeled "I own the road" majority?

Bit of balance please?

'Bit of Balance' from a cyclist.

Nice One!

Stelvio wrote:

marvell wrote: A lot of cyclists are a complete menace in York. There are of course those that obey the law but many just flout red lights on major junctions at both ends of Lord Mayor's Walk as well as both ends of Foss Islands Rd. I have seen quite a few near misses when cyclists go through red lights and then raised fists or single finger salutes from said cyclists as though they are the wronged party. Add to this those morons that cycle the wrong way up both Fossgate and Colliergate. I was driving down Fossgate and a cyclist went by and hit his fist against my car because I wouldn't give way to him. The Police should have a blitz on people like this - they are breaking the law pure and simple...and ruining law abiding cyclists reputations.

Funnily enough dont you think that comments like this ruin the reputation of law abiding cyclists? Riding home last night in the traffic following the unfortunate accident on Clarence Street was a scary experience - car drivers weaving in/out of lanes without signalling, pedestrians crossing roads wearing ipods and not looking for moving traffic etc.. You also fail to mention the abuse ANY cyclist on York's roads has to put up with at the hands of the 4-wheeled "I own the road" majority? Bit of balance please?

Absolutely. I'm thinking, particularly, of the mental defective driving a white van (no surprise there, then) who earlier tonight ignored my clear signal that I was about to make a right turn, and overtook me. As for running red lights, motorists do it at least as often as cyclists - at the Gillygate/Bootham junction, for one - and they still don't seem to understand why they get "raised fists or single finger salutes" from the people whose lives they're endangering because they consider themselves too important to obey the law. You're also dead right about drivers failing to indicate, and gormless pedestrians.

To be fair, I might also mention the woman I passed early this morning who was cycling with one hand on the bike and the other clutching a bin bag full of something or other, meandering all over the road. At one point, she even hit the kerb.

If the sign 'access only' is meaningless in law, and drivers can drive either way up what is effectively a one way street with impunity, whether they do have access or not, then why don't the council/police exchange the sign at the Lord Mayor's walk end of the street with a proper No-entry sign, that is enforceable?

Mullarkian wrote:
If there is access at both ends and there is no obstruction in between then the road is not closed then. Why didn't they make it one way only if they didn't have to close the full width?

Nothing to do with the physical state of the road. If it's legally closed, then it's legally closed whether you like it or not. The sooner it's closed permanently the better; traffic flows in York have been much smoother since this closure came into effet.

I saw 4 or 5 cars driving down it this morning
Perhaps the police should sit at the end of the road and just book cars as they appear

Give it a week and the Taxi drivers will be calling for it to be taxis and buses only

Why care? The law is often negotiable, unenforceable, unpoliced, and ignored, so why is anyone surprised by these occurences? Cyclist, pedestrian or driver, there are a percentage of all of them who are ignorant of others, as there are generally in life when it comes to considering what effect their actions have in any situation. They drift through life without any harm coming to them. Legalise tazers say I!

King Edward wrote:
Why care? The law is often negotiable, unenforceable, unpoliced, and ignored, so why is anyone surprised by these occurences? Cyclist, pedestrian or driver, there are a percentage of all of them who are ignorant of others, as there are generally in life when it comes to considering what effect their actions have in any situation. They drift through life without any harm coming to them. Legalise tazers say I!

I agree we agree to abide by rules that are meant to be taken as a way of getting on in life without causing problems or hurting each other. They are their for own good we ignore them and some of us should be punished for not abiding. Maybe not harshly but we should

Mullarkian wrote:
If there is access at both ends and there is no obstruction in between then the road is not closed then. Why didn't they make it one way only if they didn't have to close the full width?

The road left open is not wide enough for a cyclist to pass a vehicle, and it has to be accessible in either direction to allow for emergency ambulances en route to the hospital. Hence cyclists dismount. It only works as a system because the majority are not selfish and respect the signs. That applies to most traffic systems - If we all started driving through red lights and wrong way up one way streets (and ive seen car drivers as well as cyclists doing this) accidents would increase and the worst type of anarchy ensue.

I laugh every time I am on the A1237 and I pass the illuminated message signs that say
"GILLYGATE CLOSED, DELAYS POSSIBLE".
Why dont they illuminate the sign to read "GILLYGATE OPEN, DELAYS POSSIBLE". When it's open?